The Hi-Five: The High Dials/ Hot Garbage/ Fly Pan Am/ Beaulieu Power/ Reckilng

1: The High Dials Primitive Feelings Part 1 & 2

Montreal’s hallucinatory pop ensemble The High Dials have just followed up their 2018 EP Foreverish with the release of two new EP’s Primitive Feelings Part 1 and Primitive Feelings Part 2. These two collections are steeped in colourful, dubby, groovy rhythms and endless hooks that will have you snaking through the smoke to enlightenment. The band draw from a seemingly endless pool of sounds with these songs, giving this already chameleonic band a larger and more cinematic sound. Propulsive percussion hangs over fluid arrangements, blooming with enough variance in sound, that all the colors from their sonic pallet bleed through the surface, all lending the songs an eclectic timelessness, where Motown meets world music meets Primal Scream. It will be an essential addition to colder months ahead when the need for a warm escape calls.

The High Dials roll out the new releases with a trio of events. First off on Friday, September 27th with a live session starting at 7:00 pm on The Go-Go Radio Magic Show (1690 AM /www.cjlo.com). On the 28th be sure to show up at Aux 33 Tours for an in-store performance starting at 4:00. Finally, head over to L’Escogriffe on October 3rd for an early show starting at 6:00 pm.

2: Hot Garbage

Photo Credit: Annabelle Lee

Toronto’s Hot Garbage will be back in Montreal on Thursday, September 26th at L’ Escogriffe as part of the city’s annual POP Montreal Music Festival. When Hot Garbage last played here, the excellent second EP Coco’s Paradise had not yet been released and the band mainly pulled from 2017’s Max Blonda EP. Since that time, Coco’s Paradise has burrowed itself deep into my subconscious. The band is comprised of Alessandro Carlevaris (Guitars/Vox), Juliana Carlevaris (Bass /Vox), Dylan Gamble (Keys/Vox) and Mark Henein (Drums) and create heavy psychedelic sounds, drenched in echo and reverb that both transcend and peel faces. The bass and drums hang low clearing any debris from remaining stationary, keys lift and swirl like weather systems throughout and the guitar wraps around like gauze intermittently stabbing its way through the sonic veil. Their sound is truly a sum of their parts, with three members tackling vocal duties, the songs reveal different shades between the sonic thunder. There are a lot of exciting bands emerging from Toronto lately and Hot Garbage is one of them.

3: Fly Pan Am- C'est ça

After fifteen years absent, Montreal’s Fly Pan AM re-enter earth’s atmosphere to deliver a new offering, a new album titled C'est ça available through Constellation Records. C'est ça stays true to Fly Pan Am’s tendencies towards outsider sonic exploration and experimental soundscapes. Avant- Gardez Vous beams in like an alien transmission, static drums and mechanical anomalies scratch their way to Distance Dealer, and then we achieve lift-off. A sci-fi anthem hurtling the listener through the expanse with a pulsating bassline propelling forward through the vacuum, past icy meteor belts and solar flashes. Bleeding Decay’s bass acts as a propellant, it’s rhythmic heartbeat finding orbit among interstellar debris, transcendent mantras and anguished howls while synths spit crystal shards into the cosmos. The album’s experimental soundscape segments like Avant-Gardez Vous, Dizzy Delusions and Alien Syntropy are always engaging and never outstay their welcome, threading the album together into a complete and engaging listening experience. Like tuning a receiver picking up the spaces between channels looking for whatever lies beyond. With C'est ça, Fly Pan Am delivers one of the most satisfying and engaging listening experiences in quite some time.

4:Beaulieu/Power-I Want To Know

Scott Beaulieu and Nic Power tap into conspiracy and mystery on their new collaborative single I Want To Know. The track could have been an anthem at the recent Storm Area 51 event, had more than 150 people shown up. Upon first hearing the song you might be mistaken thinking it is a musical intro for a Coast To Coast AM type call-in show or perhaps a lost soundtrack for a drive intended down to Roswell, New Mexico. The track adopts an unmistakably 80’s arrangement, befitting a late-night sound that oozes digital chrome. Foreboding synths hang like dimmed neon bulbs, the bass slinks along with probing aim, while hushed vocals release please like redacted lines from a secret memo. The guitars dance with Gilmour/Knopfler moves and the vocal break in the middle recalls earth’s true known alien, Bowie. The song successfully marries UFO conspiracy imagery with a soundtrack ideal for a night drive down to that infamous road in the desert of Nevada.

5: Reckling- “S/T”

With fall upon us, I find myself of two minds. One which would still like to cling on to summer sounds while the other is ready to drink from cooler waters. Such was the perfect headspace to stumble upon the album by Reckling. Kelsey Reckling is from Los Angeles California and released a self-titled album in 2018 on Burger Records, a no-frills kitchen sink snapshot of Ms. Reckling’s endearing pop/punk philosophies and insanely raw melodic rock n’ roll. Featuring members of fellow Burger bands Weird Night and Audacity as well as Together Pangea, the album sounds quintessentially Burger. What you get over nine songs in under twenty-five minutes is an exhilarating and tightly wound record brimming with hooks (Small Man), vocals that threaten to dip into the red at any time and guitars spitting barbed fuzz and shredding switchblade solos. Wanted unleashes a chorus that induces goosebumps and fist pumps while guitars wail and the rhythm section threaten to fall apart. Take From Me and album closer Invisible slows down the amphetamine pace with a nod to the nineties northwest. I’m not surprised with how much play this album has received through the speakers in the last couple of days, it’s one of those albums that at first listen seems unsuspecting, but ultimately reveals a lot of heart and a lot of hooks.